Sony BMG's Legacy Recordings label is embarking on a two-year campaign that will see virtually everything Roy Orbison ever recorded released. At the same time, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum will curate a special exhibit with the help of the late rock'n'roll icon's family.

Legacy's campaign got underway with the Feb. 7 reissue of "Black & White Night," a 1987 star-studded concert that originally aired as an HBO/Cinemax special. The concert famously saw Orbison backed by the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Bonnie Raitt and k.d. lang, among others.Quick on its heels will be the March 28 release of the career-spanning, two-disc compilation, "The Essential Roy Orbison." The collection will pull together a total of 40 tracks that originally appeared on Sun, Monument, Virgin, MGM, Warner Bros., Mercury and Def Jam labels, reaching back as far as 1956.

Among the highlights are the early rockabilly cuts "Ooby Dooby" and "Rock House" and such classics as "Blue Bayou," "Only the Lonely," "Oh, Pretty Woman" and "Crying."

This year alone, Legacy will reissue Orbison's entire Sun and Monument catalogs. Titles from the Jewel, MGM and Virgin catalogs will follow. Plans include a remastered version of Orbison's final studio album, 1989's "Mystery Girl" and a DualDisc edition the 1992 Virgin set "King Of Hearts," both originally released by Virgin. The latter posthumous album utilized Orbison's final vocal recordings and was highlighted by a duet with lang on "Crying" that won a Grammy for best country vocal collaboration.

On April 18, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland will open its Orbison exhibit, which will focus on the artist's career and his contribution to the American songbook. Orbison's family has loaned such artifacts as handwritten lyrics, rare records, stage clothing, business documents and photographs to the gallery display. Orbison was inducted into the Rock Hall in 1987.

Supported by his widow, Barbara Orbison, a movement to commemorate the artist with an official U.S. postage stamp has taken off in recent weeks thanks to a bevy of media reports. An online petition had, at deadline, logged nearly 12,000 signatures.

sweetest punch wrote:This year alone, Legacy will reissue Orbison's entire Sun and Monument catalogs. Titles from the Jewel, MGM and Virgin catalogs will follow. Plans include a remastered version of Orbison's final studio album, 1989's "Mystery Girl"

A very logical place for the Van Dyke Parks orchestral arrangement of "The Comedians" (that EC mentioned in his BESPOKE SONGS liner notes) to finally be released, perhaps?

I just got back from the Roy Orbison tribute at Cleveland's StateTheatre (official title: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum andCase [Western University] Present The Eleventh Annual American MusicMasters: Only The Lonely--The Life and Music of Roy Orbison, TheConcert")

The above list, sans annotation, was from the printed program.Another young woman came out and belted out a song or two; I can'tremember her name but she was dynamite.

Roy's wife Barbara was there, as well as one of Roy's sons. FredFoster, who cut Roy's sides for Monument, was also there, as wassongwriting partner Joe Melson.

Video appearances were made by Tom Petty and Elvis Costello. ECtalked about being a boy and hearing Roy's hits on the BBC, and thendiscovering the rest of his catalog when he began shopping for albumsin American record stores. He talked about meeting Roy through T-BoneBurnett, and how Roy recorded "The Comedians" for the Mystery Girlalbum. The appearance was recorded specifically for the tributeshow, as EC talked about how much he regretted not being able to bethere in Cleveland.

If not as thriling as last year's Sam Cooke tribute, at which EC didappear in person, it was still a night to remember. I've been a GlenCampbell fan since I was yea high, and I finally got to hear Raul Maloperform. He's played in Cleveland like three times in the past twoyears but I've always found a way to miss his shows. Not the nexttime!

The newly released Roy Orbison collection has, as seemingly all boxsets do, a note from Elvis.

"I think such a lot of amazing things appeared when I was young anddidn't know the background story. I had no idea he had been on Sun[Records]. The first records I'd heard were 'Pretty Woman,' 'It'sOver' and 'Running Scared.' A song like 'Running Scared' would make abig impression on you. Later on I read that John Lennon had written'Please Please Me' in imitation of Roy Orbison. I got access toAmerican record stores and then I started buying Monument records. Istarted discovering all these unbelievable songs. My favorite is'Crawling Back.'"

If allmusic and wikipedia are to be believed, Crawling Back, a singlefrom 1965, was the first track on the MGM album The Orbison Way, hissecond MGM album after leaving Monument. The MGM years are lookeddown upon, but really, after those Monument records (Sings Lonely AndBlue, Crying, and the stellar In Dreams), anything is a major drop.

Roy Orbison? a legend. His last two albums Mystery Girl and King Of Hearts are brilliant. Ive just dug them out to listen to again and ive also just watched Black and White Night on video as it was left to me by my Dad after he died in 1993. When Roy sings In Dreams im always reduced to tears as it reminds me of my Dad. On his headstone is engraved In Dreams I Walk With You.

Roy Orbison’s widow Barbara has died of pancreatic cancer on the 23rd anniversary of her husband’s death.

The German-born music producer and publisher was married to the Oh, Pretty Woman singer for 19 years from March 1969 and during the 1980s started to manage his career. She executive-produced the 1988 TV special Roy Orbison and Friends, A Black and White Night, which featured Orbison playing with artists including Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello and Tom Waits and helped renew interest in him.

When he died in December 1988 she took over the running of his business interests and keeping up his public profile. This began with the release in 1989 of the album Mystery Girl, which included the song You Got It and the Bono and The Edge penned title track, and posthumously returned him to the UK and US Top 10.

She also oversaw the release of the 1992 album King Of Hearts, while other projects included her co-producing the stage musical Only The Lonely: The Roy Orbison Story.

After the Malibu family home was destroyed by fire in 1993 she relocated to Nashville where she based her music publishing business and continued to work on projects about her husband.

She passed away on Tuesday, 23 years to the day after her husband died, at the Los Angeles County-USC Medical Centre and is survived by her three sons.

There are actually two studio recordings of this song: the one included here and a version on which Roy's voice is accompanied only by a remarkable orchestral arrangement by Van Dyke Parks. I assume that one is still in a vault somewhere in Hollywood.

This version of “The Comedians” is an alternate vocal with the tracking instruments under it with no musical or vocal overdubs or strings. This is most likely a scratch vocal and a tape that Roy would listen to on cassette on the way home from the studio and on the way back the next day to do the lead vocal tracking.

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Roy Orbison's renowned 1987 televised comeback concert at the Cocoanut Grove night club in Los Angeles, Sony Music's Legacy Recordings has teamed up with Roy's Boys LLC, the Nashville-based company founded by the late icon's sons to administer their father's catalog and safeguard his legacy. Together, they are releasing Black & White Night 30, a re-imagined, re-edited, remastered and expanded version of the original television special, available both as a CD/DVD set and as a CD/Blu-ray set on February 24. PBS will also air Roy Orbison: Black & White Night 30 during the month of March as part of their special programming.

By the mid-1980s, Roy Orbison had been out of the limelight for quite some time, but his song "In Dreams" was prominently featured in David Lynch's landmark 1986 noir film Blue Velvet and helped reignite interest in the 'Big O.' On September 30, 1987, Orbison, then 51, staged a remarkable comeback with the help of guest musicians whom he had influenced: Jackson Browne, T Bone Burnett, Elvis Costello, k.d. lang, Bonnie Raitt, J.D. Souther, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Waits and Jennifer Warnes. The all-star concert at the Ambassador Hotel's Cocoanut Grove night club was turned into a television special and broadcast as Roy Orbison & Friends: Black & White Night on Cinemax the following January, less than a year before the icon's untimely passing.

Black & White Night 30 is NOT a reissue. Because the concert had been shot using seven separate cameras, there were hundreds of hours of footage that went unused and unseen. Roy's youngest son Alex Orbison and his co-editor Luke Chalk have gone back and re-edited the entire performance so that while the look will be familiar to those that have seen the original version, the vast majority of footage in Black & White Night 30 has never been seen before by the public. Furthermore, the program has been restored to reflect the correct set order, so that viewers can see Roy, brilliantly backed by Elvis Presley's TCB Band (James Burton, Glen D. Hardin, Jerry Scheff, Ron Tutt), blast through massive Orbison hits such as "Only the Lonely," "In Dreams" and "Crying" just as the star-studded live audience witnessed them on that very night.

The bonus features included in Black & White Night 30 are remarkable in both size and scope. These include a previously unseen alternate version of Orbison's biggest hit "Oh, Pretty Woman" and a previously unseen "Blue Angel." Then, unbeknownst to just about everyone but those that were there in 1987, Roy and friends and the full band regathered onstage after the show had ended and after the audience had left. A 'secret concert' of five songs followed and is presented here for the first time. The "secret concert" features alternate takes of "Dream You," "Comedians," "Candyman," "Claudette," and "Uptown" with shooting stopped only after film ran out in the middle of the latter song. These 'secret' performances have been highly sought after by fans for decades. All tracks, including all 'secret concert' alternate versions have been freshly remastered by Richard Dodd. The audio for the concert is available on CD with buyers of Black & White Night 30 receiving a download code for access to the audio records of the 'secret concert.'

Also included is a brand new 33-minute mini-documentary consisting of rehearsal footage and pre and post show interviews with Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, k.d. lang, Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne from that night. Absolutely none of this content has ever been released commercially, and until recently, has only been rumored to exist.

Black & White Night 30's bonus features are capped with a montage consisting of 20 still photos from the show and new photos of show memorabilia, mostly unused and unseen in any context. Liner notes written by son Roy Orbison Jr. are included in the brand new, yet thematically consistent, packaging.

Just as the original Black and White Night was televised almost three decades ago, so too will Roy Orbison: Black & White Night 30, this time as part of PBS special programming.

"I was standing there during the run-through trying to figure out where to start and end the songs, and looked at Ron's hand or listened to his kick drum—and looked at Elvis, and his rhythm [guitar] hand was dead spot-on. I couldn’t hear everything, but he knew his job and nailed the song intros so tightly that he was lassoing in the strays! It taught me a lot about him: He's a supreme student of American rock and understands the inner workings of our rhythm-and-blues—and he knows the interior feel of a song. I'm really grateful T Bone placed him near the girls, and just watched him for every intro—and I knew exactly what my job was."

"I was standing there during the run-through trying to figure out where to start and end the songs, and looked at Ron's hand or listened to his kick drum—and looked at Elvis, and his rhythm [guitar] hand was dead spot-on. I couldn’t hear everything, but he knew his job and nailed the song intros so tightly that he was lassoing in the strays! It taught me a lot about him: He's a supreme student of American rock and understands the inner workings of our rhythm-and-blues—and he knows the interior feel of a song. I'm really grateful T Bone placed him near the girls, and just watched him for every intro—and I knew exactly what my job was."

Jennifer pretty astute right here. Like I said from the first of the half a dozen times I saw this show, ELVIS WAS THE BANDLEADER THIS EVENING.

I AM not sure how I managed to miss it when it was first released, but the T-Bone Burnett music-directed Black & White Night Roy Orbison TV special and accompanying live album came and went at the end of the 1980s without crossing my consciousness. This is most curious, because Elvis Costello, about whose work regular readers will know I am particularly enthusiastic, is one of the participants and contributes the only original song to the programme. Burnett had produced Costello's 1986 game-changing King of America album, and famous American musicians who featured on that recording are also the backbone of Black & White Night. The TCB Band – Glen D. Hardin on piano, James Burton on lead guitar, Jerry Scheff on bass, and Ronnie Tutt on drums – was named thus by the other Elvis. They backed Presley from the end of the 1960s until his death in 1977, and the initials stand for Taking Care of Business, which both describes and understates the quartet's capabilities. Roy Orbison backed by those guys would have been a marriage made in heaven on its own, but it would not have commanded the box office attention that Black & White Night did. Orbison had one of the most remarkable voices ever to grace the wonderful world of pop and rock music, so the backing singers Burnett lined up for him are a remarkable posse: k d lang, Bonnie Raitt and Jennifer Warnes alongside Jackson Browne, Steven Soles and J D Souther (who arranged the contribution of the choristers). And the TCB Band was far from the end of the instrumental story, with Tom Waits adding organ, Costello on acoustic rhythm guitar and mouth organ, and one Bruce Springsteen wielding a Fender Telecaster and adding his own backing vocals.

Costello's bespoke addition to the Orbison pop opera canon apart – it is called The Comedians, and fits the Big O like a made-to-measure Nudie suit – the concert was entirely made up of Roy's old hits, a great many of which he wrote himself. It happened before a celebrity-studded invited audience in the oddly-spelled Cocoanut Grove night club of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles on the evening of September 30, 1987, with a strict dress code to suit the filming of it in black and white. The director of photography, Tony Mitchell, achieved a singular look to the footage, which both suggested the rock'n'roll era from which Orbison had come, and a much earlier, between-the-wars speakeasy. Thirty years on, it just looks timelessly 20th century, and as a live concert film can sit happily alongside Scorsese's The Last Waltz and Jonathan Demme's Stop Making Sense. Arguably it is an even more important document because Orbison was dead, of a heart attack, a little over a year later, at the age of 52.

Happily, Black & White Night can now be enjoyed all over again – and introduced to those who unaccountably missed it the first time round. It is bigger and better than ever. The singer's estate is managed by his sons ("Roy's Boys") and the youngest of them, Alex Orbison, has returned to the original footage to make Black & White Night 30, a package of audio CD and DVD (or Blue-Ray) which re-edits the entire performance, at least as it was seen on Cinemax at the start of 1988. The new Black & White Night recreates much more accurately what the live audience saw that evening, following the set list in the order in which it was performed, restoring numbers that were cut and adding half a dozen alternate takes, most of which took place at a post-show which was probably a belt and braces exercise until the film stock ran out (which it does half-way through a revisit of Uptown). There is a bunch of interviews with the participants as a video extra as well, and they are as articulate and thoughtful as you would expect of such a cast.

The songs, of course, are terrific. Only the Lonely, Crying, It's Over, Ooby Dooby, Blue Bayou, Oh, Pretty Woman – Orbison had a stack of them and the vocal range he employed is still quite astonishing to hear live. And as the evening wears on, others get their moment in the spotlight too, a highpoint being when Springsteen is foolhardy enough to start trading electric guitar licks with James Burton, a cutting contest where everyone – the band, the audience, and the Boss himself – knows there can only be one winner. And eventually Bruce just raises both hands in defeat.

A week tomorrow, Elvis Costello plays Edinburgh Festival Theatre. It will be one of a very few of his appearances in Scotland at which I will not be present, as other Herald duties require me to be elsewhere. Discovering Black & White Night has helped soften the blow and I cannot recommend it highly enough.